Beijing Music Radio will send its listeners a great gift today, when two of its cable channels will begin broadcasting the Classical Music Channel (98.6 MHz) and the European and American Pop Music Channel (97 MHz).

These are the first cable radio programmes in China. Both of them will broadcast 24 hours a day.

"As society develops, Chinese people's demands for more specialized radio programmes grow fast," said Shao Jun, director of Beijing Music Radio. "Such demands are especially urgent in Beijing, which has become an international metropolitan area of over 10 million people."

The two radio stations are designed to satisfy the interests of different groups of listeners, who often complain that in the comprehensive programme of Beijing Music Radio, there is too little time devoted to their favourite music.

For example, it is impossible to play a whole four-movement symphony continuously in the comprehensive programme. Now, there's plenty of time for symphonies on the Classical Music Channel, so that a classical music lover can hear every note of a symphony during one session.

In addition, cable channels will provide programmes with much better sound quality compared to wireless broadcasting. Listeners need only fit a cable receiver with jacks for both TV and radio programmes.

The regular programmes of the Classical Music Channel will include "Piano World," "Hi-fi Time," "Symphonic Space," "Classic Collection," "Live Glamour" and "Showcase of New CDs."

In the "European and American Pop Music Channel," there will be programmes for music genres like pop, rock, jazz, new age, alternative, film, electronic, dance, country and easy listening.

"Music has such a great influence on me," said Han Limin, a citizen of Beijing. "As a music lover, I'm very grateful to Beijing Music Radio for its work."

A lot of musical forms such as jazz have been absent in China for a long time, said jazz pianist Liang Heping. He said he hoped there would be even more specialized music channels in the future.

Shao Jun, director of Beijing Music Radio, promised there would be a jazz station in three years.

( China Daily May 1, 2002)